Fire staff working 'relentlessly' to deal with Worcestershire wildfires

Fire crews are continuing to damp down land after a large fire broke out at a nature reserve.

Emergency Services were called to the blaze affecting about 10,000 square meters (107,640 sq ft) of land at Hartlebury Common in Stourport-on-Severn at about 20:10 BST on Tuesday.

Hartlebury Road was shut with residents told to keep doors and windows closed.

Group commander Amy Bailey of Hereford and Worcester Fire service said it had been "very challenging" for crews.

The firefighters had worked in temperatures exceeding 37C (99F) to contain the blaze.

"They have to get on with the job, they have to stop the fire from spreading and that is really difficult in the heat, combined with the heat from the fire, and the kit that they're wearing," she said.

"The most that we can do is provide as much welfare for them, cool drinks and make sure they take regular breaks."

It has been a challenging few days for Hereford and Worcester Fire Service.

Some crews also remained at the scene of a wildfire at the Lickey Hills Country Park overnight, which broke out on Monday, damping down any hotspots.

The control room had worked "relentlessly" in recent days, answering hundreds of calls, said Ms Bailey.

"When you're getting numerous calls and you're having to look at where you're best deploying those crews to where they're most required, that's a real challenge for our control room staff," she said.

Area commander Samantha Pink tweeted how proud she was of her staff, volunteers and other partners who had witnessed "extraordinary scenes," in the past few days.

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